


Between Courses

by Nicolaruth27



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-13 15:42:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4527816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicolaruth27/pseuds/Nicolaruth27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A successful dinner date is not the comfort of the venue, the aesthetics of your surroundings, or the quality of the food; it is solely the emotion created in you by the companion at your table.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rivulets of rainwater streamed downhill in front of Maura Isles’ Beacon Hill townhouse. Reflected streetlights twinkled like Christmas lights on the ground as the Medical Examiner hurriedly navigated the short distance from her front door to the taxi waiting at the kerbside.

 

The uneven paving stone of the sidewalk had created several large puddles of standing water but the blonde skipped over and side-stepped them with a dancer’s grace.

 

Swiftly reaching the rear passenger door without so much as a splash, she folded down the small umbrella that had been protecting her hair and make-up from the never-ending downpour. Once situated in the backseat, she closed the door quickly before settling her purse on the seat beside her.

 

Huffing in annoyance at the weather, the petite blonde swept some loose curls out of her face as the driver peered through the rear view mirror. Her eyes met his only a second before she addressed him, politely requesting her destination with a warm smile.

 

“Arnaud’s Bistro, please. It’s down by Coolidge Corner Station.”

 

The burly driver acknowledged her request with a nod, his kind eyes crinkling at the corners.

 

She couldn’t see his mouth in the mirror but assumed her smile had been returned.

 

“Sure thing,” he said, his deep voice rumbling almost as low as the engine.

 

Happy that he didn’t seem to want to converse further, Maura breathed deeply and turned to look out the window. As the taxi pulled away she contemplated the potential of tonight’s date, the man she would be meeting, and the unknown quality of the restaurant he had chosen.

 

She had voiced her uncertainty to him about the venue, with the utmost diplomacy, more than once, but he wouldn’t be swayed. A ‘recommendation from a friend’ was all well and good but, by her very nature, Maura put more stock in the unbiased and honest reviews of its most recent patrons. She hadn’t dined at this particular bistro before but had researched it online and the feedback was less than stellar. _Let’s hope the quality of the company makes up for it._

 

They’d barely been travelling for more than a minute when her cell phone rang from deep within the confines of her purse and she rummaged for it with a small amount of relief. If the driver had been thinking about shooting the breeze, he wouldn’t have the opportunity now.

 

It wasn’t difficult to imagine the cabbie’s attempt at starting a conversation. It would be a carbon copy of every other social exchange she’d had this week outside of the precinct.

 

‘ _Can you believe this rain, huh?! It’ll be like this for another few days they reckon.’_

_Mm-hmm._ Not exactly a stimulating discussion.

 

It had been raining non-stop for over a week and everyone was sick of it, the doctor included. The weather stations were all saying the same thing. It was all anyone could talk about and it was rapidly dampening the doctor’s usually cheery mood. If her date happened to be interested in a dialogue on meteorological phenomena and atmospheric chemistry she would be more than happy to oblige, but for now she was safe from the discomfort of small talk.

 

The screen was bright within the darkness of the taxi’s interior as Maura pulled it from her purse, lighting up the blonde’s face with a bluish light. She swiped at the screen to answer the call. It was Jane.

 

Maura couldn’t contain a smile as she spoke warmly, “Hi, Jane.”

 

The detective sounded highly strung and a little winded, “Maura, where are you?”

 

The doctor’s eyebrows drew together slightly, hoping this wasn’t a work-related call but suspecting as much from her friend’s tone, “I’m in a cab. I have a date tonight, remember.”

 

The brunette wasn’t convincing at all as she tried to be nonchalant, her voice higher than usual, “Oh, yeah, was that tonight?”

 

The doctor murmured, unimpressed, her lips forming a tight line, “Mm-hmm.” _You knew fine well that was tonight._ Maura heard the familiar sound of Jane’s car door slam before the sound of the connection changed. _Speakerphone. Good girl._

Jane’s car engine fired up and rumbled away in the background as she continued undeterred, “Well anyway, I was thinking some more about the case. We’re not getting anywhere and it’s driving me crazy, but what if we’re just not looking at the evidence the right way?”

 

Maura’s brow furrowed and she shook her head, “I’m not sure what you mean. You know how evidence processing works -”

 

“I know, I know, but hear me out…”

 

Jane was like a dog with a bone on most cases and this one was no different. She wasn’t going to let it go and Maura knew if she wanted to enjoy her evening without further interruption she might as well humour the detective now while she had the chance. “Go on.”

 

“We know the killer was someone at that bar and we took prints from all the glasses and bottles that were used, but we didn’t get _any_ matches to the partial on the knife. We also know we have at least one used glass with no prints…”

 

The fingers of Maura’s left hand were rubbing softly across her forehead as she stared into her lap, “There are many reasons why a used glass might not have useable prints and we sent off DNA samples for analysis to -”

 

“Again, I know that. But there were **_so many_** places at the scene that **_should_** have had prints and there was no indication that anything was wiped clean.”

 

The doctor could picture Jane gesturing wildly with one hand as she spoke, exactly the way she would if Maura were seated next to her. _Always so passionate._ “You’ll have to tell me where you’re going with this, Jane.”

 

“Okay,” she paused for a breath, “ ** _what if_** … the killer doesn’t **_have_** any fingerprints?”

 

Maura was silent. It wasn’t the craziest theory she’d ever heard a homicide detective come up with but it was borderline desperate. Not dismissing the idea without consideration, Maura’s lack of response prompted Jane to fill in some blanks.

 

“Let’s just say, theoretically of course, that the partial belongs to whoever last used the knife and not the killer. The killer might be counting on us pinning this on someone else, it could be a deliberate framing, or... it could just be coincidence there was a partial print on the weapon at all.”

 

Maura raised her head to check the taxi’s progress, surveying dark surroundings through the rain spattered window. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and tried to relax the tense corrugator muscles in her brow, “Jane, the probability of that is so low I can’t even -” Maura gestured with her free hand in frustration as her impressive brain tried and failed to calculate a number of such magnitude at a second’s notice.

 

Jane wasn’t waiting around for Maura to finish that sentence. She didn’t need to know how many million to one the odds were against her being right, “But not impossible, right? You told me about that study, from, er… Serbia or something, I forget, but the guy had ammo… ammo…” Jane wiggled her fingers as she spoke, curling them over and over, as if Maura could see her and the motion alone would coax out of the doctor the term that was on the tip of the detective’s tongue, “…ammohieroglyph…something -”

 

“Oh. Adermatoglyphia!” The blonde almost giggled. The detective’s attempts at pronouncing unfamiliar scientific terms were always a little comical but the doctor would give her an A for effort this time. _And she really does listen to me!_ “Mmm… studied in Switzerland,” Maura stated thoughtfully. “Those affected have a lack of epidermal ridges.”

 

Jane switched hands on the steering wheel in order to snap her left thumb and finger, ecstatic that her genius friend retained almost everything she ever read, before pointing her index finger enthusiastically at the cell phone strapped to the centre console, “YES, that!”

 

Maura sighed softly. It was a massive leap from the common occurrence of not finding a useable print to having found a suspect that _had_ no prints. “It’s an extremely rare gene mutation, Jane.”

 

“Aaa-and…” the detective drew out dramatically, “…a great party trick to get away with murder!”

 

Maura saw no good reason to work on this very suspect theory tonight. She had better things to do. _Fingers crossed._ “No fingerprints doesn’t mean no sweat glands. He’ll still leave DNA behind even if you’re right. We just have to wait for the results of the swabs and we could have a match in a day or two.”

 

“But, Maura-aaa…”

 

“ ** _But_** nothing, Jane. I know you. You’re itching to get back to the crime lab right now in order to harass my staff and get them to hurry the tests, which you **_know_** they can’t do, and you’d probably drag me along with you!”

 

“Yeah, so? We’re a team.” Jane whined before pounding her car’s horn and yelling loudly, “It’s just a bit of rain, idiot. Get a move on!”

 

The blonde smiled to herself. She could be, and quite often was, talked into many things by her best friend. _Those deep brown puppy dog eyes don’t help._ But tonight she wasn’t budging. Checking the brunette was still on the line after her outburst, Maura queried, “Jane?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“We will still be a team tomorrow morning, if this really can’t wait. But like I said, I have a date.”

 

Jane huffed. “Okay, fine.”

 

Maura rolled her eyes. “You’re already on your way there, aren’t you?” She shook her head at her friend’s behaviour. _Unbelievable._

 

Jane shoved a hand underneath her hair and rubbed at the back of her neck, momentarily uncomfortable and a little thrown, “ ** _No_**. I, er… I happen to have a date myself actually.”

 

Maura heard a lie, but without being able to see the minute facial muscle movements that would be the brunette’s tell, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure. She went with what she knew, “I can hear you driving, Jane.”

 

Jane scoffed, a little offended, “So? Maybe I thought I’d save on cab fare and be fresh as a daisy in the morning in order to get back on the case if I drove and didn’t drink tonight.”

 

 _She’s bluffing._ Maura matched Jane’s tone and vocal pitch, “Or, maybe you were trying to come up with ways to get out of meeting a man your mother no doubt set you up with, and being suddenly and conveniently forced back to work en route in your patrol car was your best bet?”

 

Jane sighed loudly. _Busted._ “Alright, you got me.”

 

“You need to relax, Jane. Take tonight to decompress. Enjoy yourself.” It was advice she would be taking herself, even if her friend refused to comply. “The lab and the evidence will still be there tomorrow. I’ll do some research in the morning and meet you there at lunch.”

 

Jane decided not to argue with the doctor’s recommended prescription lest it turn into a much longer conversation involving questions about the last time the brunette had had sex. _Those happen way too often, no need to encourage her!_ “Okay. Thanks, **_Doc_**.”

 

Maura purred. “No problem, **_Detective_**.”

 

Jane had pulled to a stop in a public parking lot. She’d have to run the next block to the restaurant with her long coat pulled over her head to have any chance of not getting soaked to the skin. “Right, well, see you tomorrow, Maura.”

 

Maura’s cab was just pulling to a stop outside the restaurant. She handed the driver several folded bills, mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ and placed her billfold back into her purse. She perched the cellphone between her ear and shoulder as she exited the vehicle and quickly entered the restaurant, “I’ll text you. Goodnight Jane.”

 

Jane ended the call and slumped in her seat, staring out the windshield and into the darkness as the rain continued to shower the windows. A shiver ran its way throughout the length of her body and goose pimples erupted all over her skin. She couldn’t have imagined a more miserable evening for a date. The damp permeated everything, her mood included. _This better be worth it!_

 

The brunette exited her vehicle with a frustrated groan. She wrapped her coat tightly around herself, the low hem brushing her bare calves, and tried not to shiver against the cold.

 

The restaurant wasn’t far but as she left the relative darkness of the parking lot, with its scarce overhead lighting, her vision fought the encroaching pitch-blackness of an unlit side street. Desperate to cross, to reach her destination illuminated half a block up, she hurried. Taking her gaze upward from the street surface to check for any oncoming traffic, she stepped from the kerb straight into a puddle.

 

“Oh, come ON!” she shouted, head and hands turned towards the sky.

 

Reaching the restaurant entrance, Jane took a second to compose herself. Shaking water droplets from her dampened head, she looked down at her feet. Four-inch heels, unused except for several court appearances, were covered in wet patches. There were a few spots of something dark splashed across one ankle and her toes squeaked and squelched with moisture.It was typical of her luck with dates. Just typical. _I bet Maura doesn’t have to put up with this shit!_


	2. Chapter 2

Jane peered from the restaurant foyer into the dining room, scanning the heads and faces for anyone else that looked like they were here for a blind date. As she rose onto her tiptoes to get a better look, she pulled the front of her coat tightly around her damp body and secretly hoped she’d been stood up.

 

A very young, fresh-faced waitress appeared, drawing Jane’s attention back into the foyer. “Do you have a reservation?” she asked. “Only we’re quite busy tonight.”

 

 _Really?_ Jane imagined the subtlety of the girl’s snooty tone would be missed by most people, but it, along with her demeanour and facial expression, spoke volumes to the detective. She was momentarily offended and one eyebrow lifted almost to her hairline as she looked fully at the waif-like redhead. _Do I **look** like I wouldn’t have a reservation?_ Admittedly yes, she did look like she’d just walked in off the street in order to shelter from the rain, perhaps just chancing her luck at a free table to pass the time, but honestly, who in their right mind would be walking around for fun in a dress that felt a size too small and heels that made your feet want to scream? _Look at me, child - I’m obviously here for a date!_

 

Standing to her full height, intimidating as she was even without heels, Jane tried to keep the worst of her sarcasm on a leash and her arms by her sides. Flashing her teeth through a menacing smile, she was smug and satisfied as she announced, “Actually, I’m meeting someone.” _And you can_ s _uck it, Lindsay Lohan!_

 

“Oh, in that case…” The girl gestured with one hand, turning away from Jane as she spoke, “…you may wait in the bar for… your companion.”

 

The brunette was directed to her left, to the far side of the bustling dining room, where a dark mahogany bar spanned the entire length of the space. She stalked across, between tables and chairs, determined to find a very strong drink. It was quickly turning into that kind of evening.

 

Approaching the bar, Jane was too preoccupied analysing the girl’s words to notice the bartender smiling at her. _Why the pause? ‘You may wait in the bar for **him’**. How is that not obvious? Companion my ass._ She shot a look back over her shoulder, eyes narrowed in contempt, but the girl had vanished.

The confused detective was about to take a seat at one of the many barstools and bury her frustrations in several shots of something that burned when someone called out to her.

 

“Jane? Jane Rizzoli?”

 

The brunette’s coat tails flared out as she spun quickly around on her heels, searching for the source of the voice.

 

A short, stocky man rose from his seat at a nearby table. He took a step forward and reached out a hand to shake hers as he grinned, “Wow. Angela told me what you looked like but she didn’t tell me how utterly gorgeous you were!”

 

Jane was staring wide-eyed, unable to speak as the man continued to grip and shake her hand animatedly.

 

His eyes swept up and down her tall figure, leering, concentrating on the portion of her lithe body revealed by the unbuttoned, parted front of her coat, “I’m Nick, um, Niccolo Baldi. Nice to meet you.”

 

An incredulous laugh tried to burst free from Jane but she caught it and used her amusement as a cover. She smiled widely back, a fisted hand pressed to her lips aiding the detective’s self-control, as she tried to drag her gaze from his shiny, bare scalp.

 

“Hi – hello.” _Baldi? Oh my god, Ma. You’ve got to be kidding me!_

 

Her hand felt sweaty and grimy when he finally released it. She swiped it down the length of her coat-covered torso, removing the moisture and willing away a sudden ache that forced a flex of her fingers, before turning away to remove her soggy outer layer.

 

Nick had already retaken his seat at the intimate dinner table when Jane turned back around and, though she tried not to look in his direction, she could tell he was still staring. His scrutiny made her acutely uncomfortable as she placed her coat on the back of her chair. He made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

 

She moved out from behind the chair in order to take her own seat, and as she did so a lascivious whistle made its way across the table. She stopped and, with her face turned away from him, hidden behind her ebony mane, she rolled her eyes so hard she thought for a second she’d caught a glimpse of her own brain. _It’s gonna be a long fucking night._

 

oOo

 

The doctor had given herself a thorough pat on the back for tonight; it was long overdue. This was her first date in a very long time. Her run of bad choices, general misfortune, and the occasional psychopath had put paid to the romantic aspirations she had once held.

 

She had spoken to Felix many times on the phone, during a consultation on a recent case, and Maura had created a picture in her mind of the man behind the smoky voice. Her courage had been returning bit by bit, steadily over the past few weeks, and she’d felt much safer venturing back out into the dating arena. She was almost certain before accepting the distinguished professor’s invitation that the gravel-throated man wasn’t the type to hold her at knifepoint, drug her, or try to con anything out of her.

 

She had been way off when imagining his features, but she was far from disappointed. It was shallow, she knew, to have felt relief upon discovering the attractive voice was encased in such an equally attractive exterior.

 

Tall, dark and handsome hadn’t even come close. Felix was exquisite. The unruly softness of his curly hair was a delight. The dark freckle on his cheek begged for the stroke of her fingertip. The twinkle in his eye was familiar in a way she couldn’t quite pinpoint. The sharp cut of his suit, several shirt buttons undone, skin that looked golden and smooth to the touch…

 

She’d thought about skipping dinner entirely when she’d first laid eyes on him in the restaurant foyer. One glance into his black coffee bedroom eyes had had her blushing, heat rising through her belly, a craving for something far more satisfying than dessert. It had been far too long since someone had touched her.

 

oOo

 

Nick’s chivalry was well-intentioned, Jane had no doubt he was just innocently trying to impress her, but it had gone down like a lead balloon. His attempts to put forth an air of worldliness and sophistication had misfired, though so far he was oblivious to his failure.

 

He was embarrassingly eager. He’d asked so politely if he could order for the both of them that Jane hadn’t had the heart to refuse. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d sat in an unfamiliar restaurant and eaten food she couldn’t visually identify, though usually the company was decidedly more striking.

 

Not unlike Jane herself, Nick had been unable to pronounce anything on the exclusively French menu, but even worse he’d opted for finger pointing his choices to the waitress rather than ask what anything was.

 

To his credit, Nick was a good listener. He’d started out the evening by asking Jane what she did for a living and paid attention as she spoke.

 

Jane had been nervous at first, avoiding and side-stepping details, as was her usual date strategy. At first she was just a cop, not a homicide detective, lest she scare him off even before the appetizers arrived. But talk of her occupation soon turned her mind once again to their latest case, and she found she couldn’t stop. Her babbling helped in a way, it brought more questions to the surface - things she would need to ask Maura about later.

 

Now, sick of the sound of her own voice and prodding her fork at something even Maura would call questionable, the detective wished she’d listened to her gut and gone to the precinct instead. How many more times would she succumb to her mother’s guilt trips and have to suffer through her terrible taste in men?

 

oOo

 

A half-eaten plate sat in front of Jane. It was unappetising, disgustingly gelatinous and it was mocking her. _Next time pick your own food, Jane. Next time have some backbone and speak up, Jane. Ask for a doggy bag and take me home, Jane. Get your best friend to dissect and identify me in the lab, Jane._

 

A quick glance at her watch told the detective it was still too early to ditch her date in favour of chasing up evidence. Of course if something came up she’d happily sprint back to her car for a quick getaway, heels or no heels. There was a reason she always brought her cellphone to these dinners.

 

While Nick was busy ordering yet more wine for himself, Jane rummaged in a coat pocket and retrieved her phone. She was going to wait until she got home before texting Maura, aware that she might not be thanked for interrupting the doctor’s private time. She rubbed her thumbs over the screen, pondering the fingerprints she’d just erased. _Ha. Who am I kidding?_

 

oOo

 

Bored and frustrated, Maura sat across from her date, sipping wine and picking her way through a grape and blue cheese salad. She was multi-tasking, nodding in all the right places whilst reading and sending text messages on the silenced cell phone that lay in her lap, her date too enamoured of his own voice to notice or care.

 

_J: If the DNA turns up something could we use the lack of prints as evidence?_

_M: A lack of prints is not evidence, Jane._

_J: But it would support the case if we came across a suspect with no prints._

_M: Yes, in theory. Though, it would be circumstantial._

_J: I guess that alone wouldn’t get me an arrest warrant. So I still need DNA to confirm?_

_M: Short of going back over the scene or body, that’s all we’ve got. Hopefully the lab will find a match in the system._

_J: If need be we could set up some dates at the bar. Like the Merch case. You can be the bait this time!_

_M: I appreciate the offer but I think my days of going undercover are over._

 

_J: So what else would you suggest?_

_M: I would say go enjoy your date, Jane. Hopefully you’re having greater success than I am._

_J: Let me know if you need the emergency getaway call. I’m your gal if you need an excuse to leave._

_M: I know. Thank you._

 

oOo

 

Spearing a flake of grilled salmon with her fork, Maura sighed deeply, wistfully, and stared unseeing at her plate. Her displeasure at the quality of her entrée remained unspoken but was not her only source of irritation. This Friday night just wasn’t going to plan.

 

She’d heard all about Felix’s state-of-the-art, brand new lab technology, the entire foreword of his latest book, a thorough recap of his time spent teaching out of state, and the frankly obscene size of his latest research grant. He was a very accomplished man and it was all very fascinating up to a point but, for just a second, Maura wished she was anywhere else but here.

 

The blonde swallowed, bolstering her patience, and when she spoke her voice was firm, as if she were dealing with one of her subordinates, “Felix, let’s not talk about work **_all_** evening,” She softened her demand at the end and followed it with a deliberate smile. She’s well aware of how her face moves, how the underlying muscles work in conjunction with her bone structure. She can name all the connective tissues, mechanisms and processes involved in the formation of her facial dimples. It was _that_ smile, the one she usually reserved for stubborn detectives that she flashed at him, to get what she wanted, “Please …tell me about you.”

 

He shrugged, not forthcoming. “My family came over from Bilbao.”

 

She was genuinely interested and a little giddy, “Oh, I hadn’t realised you were of Spanish heritage. Your surname is more commonly found in Mexico.”

 

“Really?” He teased. “You must tell me more about my ancestry.” Suddenly his tone was off, teetering between condescending and annoyed, “Is there an ancient family crest I don’t know about?” After a second he winked and grinned, a bright, white smile that was faintly villainous.

 

Maura smiled back but it was prim and polite, learned from her mother. She worried silently that she was being overly sensitive, taking offense where none was intended. She worried that she may have offended him by being an insufferable know-it-all; it wouldn’t be the first time her runaway mouth had ruined a date. _You never learn._ She worried that another failed date was yet more evidence that she was destined to be alone. Abandoned. Socially inept. Unlovable.

 

A blush formed on her cheeks as she pondered how to steer this conversation around to more romantic territory. Shyly she lowered her gaze, regarding what was left of her rapidly-cooling food, before clearing her throat softly. The whisper-like tone she used was well-practiced, a winning formula, the epitome of sexiness, “Estoy fascinado por la mayoría de las cosas europeas.” (I’m fascinated by most things European.)

 

She didn’t know what, if anything, she expected him to say in response, but instead there was an awkward silence that started an itch somewhere below the blonde’s neckline.

 

As Maura lifted her eyes to him, Felix was straight-faced. He blinked twice before whispering, like he was giving away national secrets, “Sorry, what? Er… me…. no comprendo!” He laughed at the bewildered look on Maura’s face.

Suddenly very self-conscious, Maura squirmed in her seat.

 

His seal-like barks were enough to draw the attention of numerous patrons throughout the restaurant and she smiled politely in turn at those that stared from neighbouring tables.

 

“I – um…” She fidgeted, pulling and smoothing the napkin that was lying in her lap. She chastised herself for jumping to an incorrect conclusion. “Sorry. I thought…” Her brows drew together and her voice was low, “You don’t **_speak_** Spanish then?”

 

“God, no!” He exclaimed, still chucking to himself. “Nah,” He waved a dismissive hand in her direction. “I like having the accent, picked it up from my parents, but I never learned.” He shrugged again, “No point.”

 

The derisive look on his face left Maura stunned and severely disappointed. _Would it hurt to have someone, just once, respond in kind to my love of languages instead of mockery?!_

 

She decided to play it the way Jane might, with a lot of patience and a little entrapment, “I imagine the exotic accent alone would draw you plenty of female attention, hmm?” She smiled sweetly, innocently, and peered upwards at him through her eyelashes.

 

He was instantly charmed by coy Maura and his libido took over. Her nerdy, multi-lingual confession was forgotten, he was patently uninterested in her intelligence or life-experience. “It doesn’t hurt. And I’m still a Spaniard in many other ways. I **_mambo_** extremely well.”

_Mm-hmm_. Usually, Maura would rely on her detective to explain obtuse euphemisms, but the wiggle of his eyebrows gave the once oblivious doctor a big enough clue. She was somewhat familiar with the mambo, in theory if not in practice, but it wasn’t dancing of the vertical variety he was referring to.

 

Maura was wildly unimpressed. The fire that had furled and rolled around her ovaries upon arrival was gone, smothered so effectively nothing remotely heated remained; not unless you counted the bitter, ashen aftertaste left in her mouth from a terribly overcooked piece of fish. _The mambo isn’t even Spanish, you… jackass!_

oOo

The revelation that Nick owned a bakery had brought Jane’s date to a screeching halt.

 

He’d tried to make small talk about the intricacies of cake decorating and the process of choosing suitable flours after she went quiet, but Jane was stuck. She was struck dumb. In her mind she was back there, handcuffed to the bed. Every time she looked up at Nick and glimpsed his blatantly lustful eyes she saw _his_ face. Dominic.

 

The sudden squealing sound of Nick pushing back his chair dragged Jane from her memories and made her wince. She nodded with a barely hidden sneer as he excused himself to the restroom.

 

“Um, sorry… too much wine.”

 

She mumbled grumpily at his retreating form, “You don’t say.”

 

Her mother setting her up with a man with such a ridiculous name was one thing; setting her up with a man who reminded her of a crazed kidnapper was something else. _Unbelievable._

 

Jane rubbed a hand over her face and let out a deep sigh before signalling to the waitress for another glass of water. One minute in Nick’s overly-amorous company had been enough to catapult her back onto the wagon for the night. _Better safe than sorry_ she’d thought at the time. Now she was one difficult memory away from getting smashed and dealing with the messy consequences tomorrow.

 

The waitress set Jane’s refilled glass down on the table as her cellphone vibrated again signalling another message.

 

oOo

 

This date couldn’t end soon enough for Maura, but she was persevering for the sake of professionalism. This wasn’t just any guy; he wasn’t the yoga instructor she could avoid by taking a different class, or the surgeon she’d never have to see again after her friend’s rehabilitation, he was currently a colleague.

 

Her decision to mix business and pleasure had been an error in judgement; one she’d be reluctant to repeat ever again but for extremely exceptional circumstances. Her yearning for that perfect someone, a partner fill up the emptiness inside, a kindred soul to understand her, had blinded her to the logic of keeping these things isolated from one another.

 

What had seemed like a very promising match was in fact just another one of those bad decisions.

 

Maura had been paying less and less attention to Felix, his messy and nauseating way of eating too much for her to bear along with everything else. She was rarely so inattentive, but tonight she was grateful for the presence of her phone.

 

Felix was chewing with his mouth open as she sent off another text message.

 

_M: You haven’t said anything about your date, Jane. Is it not going well?_

_J: Not even remotely. I’m going to slowly choke my mother with her own tea towel when I see her. You?_

_M: Very disappointing._

_J: You ok? You want the 911?_

****

Felix loudly and deliberately cleared his throat to get Maura’s attention. He peered at her, questioning eyes narrowed, intimidating broad shoulders tensed. His head tilted to the side as his eyes flicked down to her lap.

 

“Problem?”

 

Maura’s gaze flicked down to the phone still clutched in one hand.

 

_J: Maura?_

 

She stumbled over her panic. He was the textbook definition of passive-aggressive and she’d been rumbled. “Um, work… just someone from work.”

 

He grunted, “That detective you’re always talking about?”

 

_J: Maura!_

 

Maura smiled sweetly as she tried to stop her heart from racing, “Yes. We had a new case this week. It’s ongoing.” _Please don’t ring._

 

He seemed the perfect gentleman as he stood from the table, “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I need the little boy’s room.”

 

She was about to breathe a big sigh of relief as he turned back to face her. She gulped and held it in as he gestured in the vicinity of her lap.

 

He snapped his orders like a high school teacher giving homework instructions before walking away, “You can finish up whatever it is that’s distracting you while I’m gone.” _And put it away._ He didn’t say it, he didn’t have to.

 

The blonde breathed out as he disappeared, her eyes following him the entire way until he was out of sight. She could practically hear Jane’s voice in her head.

 

_Wow! Nice going, Maura. Try and find a person without a personality disorder next time!_

 

Another buzz of her phone startled her. With an elbow propped up on the table, she palmed her face for a moment and shook her head, wondering how she’d gotten herself into such an uncomfortable situation.

 

The next incoming text message had her up on her feet, grabbing her purse and heading for the ladies room. She didn’t care how it would look - if he returned to find her gone and proceeded to leave prematurely it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

 

_J: If I don’t hear anything in the next 5 mins I’m calling you whether you like it or not!_

_M: Hold on…_


	3. Chapter 3

For no apparent reason, well none that Maura could easily discern anyway, the restaurant was marred by a hideous design feature - split down the middle by a huge partition. The wooden structure hid the main bar and the remaining tables from view as she moved quickly through her section with phone and purse in hand. Simultaneously, the doctor wished two things she never thought she’d wish for on a date; that her designated table had been both situated closer to the bathroom as her ankles were screaming in protest at her haste in choosing four inch heels, and also closer to the bar, permitting her the opportunity to efficiently request and gulp down the strong shot her tattered nerves were demanding.

oOo

Three large glasses of water was too much for Jane’s bladder to cope with. She figured the absence of her date and her need to call Maura was good enough reason to take a bathroom break.

She swaggered huffily into the ladies room, cursing her outfit choice as the fingers of her left hand gripped and pulled at the hem of her dress, stretching it lower down her thighs. Right hand still clutching tightly to her cellphone, she was in no rush to get back to her companion, and was patiently allowing Maura the five or so minutes she’d promised before calling to check up on her.

Upon entering the ladies room, all the stall doors appeared to be closed. The detective peered closely at the handles to see if there was any indication if they were free or occupied. Suddenly the door immediately in front of her opened with a whoosh of air and she found herself face-to-face with her best friend.

Startled, the brunette slammed both palms against the centre of her chest and jumped back yelling, “FU-crying out loud, Maura!”

Maura’s eyes were wide as she gasped, “Oh, Jane!”

Jane was panting dramatically, hands still splayed across her chest, “I think I’m having a heart attack.”

Maura rolled her eyes at Jane’s theatrics and dismissed her with a hand as she moved past the brunette to the sink basins, “Oh, stop.”

Jane’s shoulders slumped as she whined and gestured towards the exit, “Well can we at least go get me checked out so I can get out of here?”

Maura turned to her with surprise, “You mean you really did have a date?”

Jane’s face fell, “A person could take that the wrong way, y’know.”

“What? I -”

Jane’s hands were firmly planted on her hips now as she accused, “What? You didn’t think I could have a date or you didn’t think I was telling the truth?”

Maura tried to formulate a response; both were true in a way but she would never admit it. She let her eyes sweep up and down Jane’s body as she scrambled to find a way to deflect. She settled on Jane’s hands, where hips were encased in a very flattering, tight, black dress. It couldn’t be a real Herve Leger, Jane would never spend that amount of money on such a garment, but it wasn’t a bad reproduction. In fact it was perfect for the brunette. The length perfectly showcased Jane’s model-like, silky smooth, tan legs…

“Maura!”

“Sorry… I just didn’t know you were going to be here.”

Jane swept her hands up and down her body, her eyes peered downwards as she searched for whatever had drawn Maura’s attention. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d spilled something on herself during dinner. “Yeah, well… it’s more your kind of place.”

The doctor sat her purse on the vanity counter, “It’s really not my kind of place. I’ve had better.”

Jane raised an amused eyebrow.

The double meaning registered in Maura’s face a second later and she smirked at Jane’s baser level humour.

“The food, Jane. I’ve had much better French cuisine elsewhere.”

“You mean it’s not just me and my unsophisticated palate that’s the problem here?”

The blonde giggled, “Not this time.”

“Thank god,” Jane sighed. “The food is awful.”

“It’s no L’Espalier that’s for sure.”

Jane’s eyebrows drew together as she stared wistfully off into the distance, her features softened as she smiled and subtly nodded her head. She whispered reverently, as if remembering a past lover, “Sure. L’Espalier.” She’d never heard of it.

Maura’s quiet chuckle was adorable and it warmed Jane’s heart.

“So who’s the lucky guy?” prodded the brunette.

There was a brief pause before Maura found the item she wanted from her purse and replied, “Felix Arreola.”

“Oh, god!” Jane slapped a hand to her thigh and her mouth hung open, “you’re dating Professor Nipples?!”

“How many times…” Maura huffed in annoyance and closed her eyes for a beat. The blonde exaggerated her facial movements in the mirror, watching Jane watch her mouth with a smirk. She pinched the thumb and forefinger of her right hand and gestured with it in true European style, “…his name is not areola, Jane! Two R’s… it’s pronounced ah-ray-uh-luh.” Her Spanish accent was impeccable, she knew, but the importance of inflection was totally wasted on the Italian. She lowered her eyes back to her purse and shook her head, “You’re such a child.”

Jane bumped shoulders with the younger woman, “Oh, come on! It’s funny!” When Maura remained quiet and simply began reapplying her lip-gloss, Jane continued, “If it makes you feel any better, Ma set me up with a man called Baldi.”

Maura almost snorted. Her mouth hung open a little as she tried to stop it from turning up at the corners.

Jane nibbled furiously on her lower lip as she braced her hands on the countertop either side of the sink basin. She couldn’t contain the tiny squeak that snuck out with a nasal exhale as deep brown locked with golden hazel in the mirror.

Maura, with her lip gloss still in hand, watched Jane clamp her lips tightly together. She watched as Jane squeezed them further, turning them inward, bringing out the deep dimples in her cheeks, “Does he… I mean… how much -”

Jane shook her head wildly, rushing the words out with a single, large exhale, “Not-a-solitary-hair-on-his-head, Maura. I swear to God.”

Both women collapsed against the vanity unit in fits of giggles.

“Oh god, I needed that,” Maura blurted breathlessly as she rubbed an index finger under each eye to wipe away any stray mascara.

Maura straightened out her dress, running her hands down the front to smooth the fabric, before raising her arms and doing the same to the thick waves of her hair. She leaned closer to the mirror, giving her make up another once over and spoke softly to herself in practiced Italian, “Il riso fa buon sangue.” (Laughter is the best medicine.)

Jane bowed her head to hide a brief smile. For several beats there was no sound, only comfortable silence. Maura was putting the last of her things back into her purse as Jane turned to her with a serious look. She inhaled deeply and her gaze fell to the floor before her low, husky tones halted Maura’s movements, “La tua risata è come la bella musica.” (Your laughter is like beautiful music.)

In the silence that followed, as Maura suddenly became aware of her own pulse and her eyes searched out Jane’s, two clamorous male voices could be clearly heard through the wall to the adjacent men’s room.

Maura’s nose wrinkled as she recognised one of the voices.

oOo

“UGH, GODDAMN WOMEN!” Felix growled as he slammed his fist down on the vanity counter. “I just don’t get it… she was all over me when we got here. All. Over Me. And then she starts ignoring me… I mean, not even halfway through dinner and it’s like she doesn’t even want to be there!” He shook his head, holding his own bewildered gaze in the mirror.

Nick was washing his hands vigorously at the next basin, “Bad date, huh?”

“Women these days… they’re crazy, I’m telling you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me, pal. This girl I’m with, she’s scary. Look at her the wrong way and you’re liable to get your balls blown off!”

Felix let out a full-bellied laugh, “Aw man, you gotta toughen up. Show ‘em who’s boss.”

Nick was aghast, “I’m not joking, man! She has a gun!”

Felix wasn’t deterred from his grand-standing, looming tall over the diminutive and average-looking baker, “Gun or no gun, women don’t really like to be independent, trust me.”

“Heh. Trust me, you got it easy if she’s a quiet one. This girl would not… stop… talking. Work, work, doctor, work, suspect, work, doctor. God!”

“Well, shit, if I could get my woman to talk more about work I might get somewhere. But no – she’s all ‘tell me about you’ and ‘oh what a sexy accent you have’. It’s like they don’t wanna just get off any more.”

“Well, keep at it, pal. You never know. If dessert goes well she might come around.”

“I don’t know what I did wrong, to be honest.”

Nick chuckled and shook his head, “Don’t ask me, man.”

“It’s such a shame ‘cos she’s gorgeous… a bit weird… but she’s loaded! She’d be a great asset for my research foundation fundraisers -”

“You should see my girl…” Nick whistles. “You could put her on the front of any magazine, I’m not kidding. But crazy and scary trumps gorgeous any day. I ain’t letting a friend of a friend of my aunt set me up again anytime soon!”

oOo

Instantly Maura’s eyes followed the movement of Jane’s left hand to her hip. It was instinctive for the detective, to be prepared for anything, but there was no holster to be found and she watched panic flick across the brunette’s brow before it was hidden a second later. The blonde tracked the change in every one of the brunette’s muscles, from relaxed to rigid, tension infiltrating her from scalp to toe.

When the second voice spoke, Maura watched that edginess seep subtly from her friend’s posture to be replaced with something else. Wonder. Curiosity.

The brunette’s brows were drawn together as they listened in silence, her head quirked to the side as she registered some of her date’s words.

Maura was emotionless on the outside, a swirl of disappointment and embarrassment on the inside. She fought valiantly against the colour that quickly rose across her cheeks, turning her eyes to the floor and clearing her throat against a demure fist.

She thought for a second that her miniscule reaction to the clamour next door had escaped her friend’s attention but as she looked back up and met Jane’s steely gaze she was corrected.

A myriad of emotions rolled across her friend’s face, one after the other, settling only for a split second before being replaced – sympathy, fear, compassion, anxiety, and anger. The latter settled and remained, sparking a flutter in Maura’s stomach that made her feel slightly nauseous.

Jane’s eyes continued to burn but when she spoke it wasn’t the growl Maura expected. Softly, almost apologetically, gesturing towards the mirror on the wall, she asked, “Is that him?” Her gaze held, asking silent questions that Maura would swear she could hear just as clearly. That shallow, gold-digging, chauvinistic, passive-aggressive asshole that just called my best friend a weirdo is your date?

Maura wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. She physically shrunk into herself as she whispered, “Yes.”

Jane grabbed Maura’s wrist and pulled her firmly towards the exit.

“Jane, don’t -”

They came to a stop outside and the door swung shut behind them with a clatter. “Don’t what, Maura?”

The blonde was at a loss for words but her eyes made an impassioned plea. Please don’t make me beg, please don’t make a scene, just get me out of here.

Jane breathed deeply and squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. She fought valiantly against the anger that threatened to overflow and spill out onto her friend. She didn’t deserve that. She released her grip on Maura’s wrist, rubbed the jutting bone with her thumb to soothe the sting she no doubt caused on the younger woman’s skin, before letting their fingers interlink in a gentle hand hold.

Just as she was motioning for the two of them to move back into the restaurant the door to the men’s room swung open.

Nick’s entire body was a picture definition of shock and awe as he froze on the spot. Felix swallowed the tail end of a chuckle, coughing quietly as he too came to an abrupt halt, face-to-face with the lanky brunette. Nick ducked his chin and took a half step back as Jane squared her shoulders and stuck out her right hand.

The detective’s eyes flicked over to her friend momentarily as the blonde gave a sharp tug to their still-joined hands. With a quick shake of her head she dismissed the doctor’s plea to retreat. She smiled broadly at the man who, despite being a right royal douchebag, could have easily been mistaken for her brother.

“Dr. Nipples, I presume.”


	4. Chapter 4

Felix’s hand rose on automatic pilot to meet Jane’s. He winced inwardly at her death-grip handshake before clearing his throat, “I’m sorry, and you are…?”

 

Jane’s smile fell from her face in a nanosecond, “Rizzoli. _Detective_ Jane Rizzoli.”

 

Felix raised an eyebrow in Maura’s direction, causing the blonde to swallow nervously, before turning back to the brunette. “Oh.” _What the fuck is **she** doing here?_ “Well, I sincerely hope you’re not here on official business.”

 

 _Oh sure, I always go on official business looking like I’ve just stepped off a Paris runway!_ Jane frowned and glanced down at her attire, gesturing her free hand like ‘ _really?’_ as Felix continued.

 

The professor looked pointedly towards the doctor, “It wouldn’t serve you well to leave in the middle of dinner, Maura.”

 

Maura opened her mouth to speak but Jane beat her to it. Incredulously she asked, “What did you just say -?”

 

Nick muscled a shoulder past Felix, inserting himself into the awkward tension. Proudly he declared, “No, no, she’s here on a date. That’s my date.”

 

Maura pressed her fingers to her mouth to stifle a smile. Bless his little cotton socks. Even if she liked to reserve judgment for more than just a person’s appearance it did seem that he was… _what metaphor would be Jane-appropriate here?_ Batting out of his league?

 

Jane turned to Nick and pointed an index finger near his face, “I’ll get to you in just a second, Danny DeVito.” Turning back to Felix she gripped and pulled Maura’s hand so fiercely it caused the blonde to lurch, side-stepping and bumping Jane’s hip. The brunette practically growled, “Now listen here - this _is_ official business; official _best friend_ business. And _you_ just ruined the best date of your life, buddy.”

 

Felix sputtered - he’d never been spoken to by a woman this way before.

 

“You -” She pointed back at Nick, “You’ve got a goddamn nerve.”

 

Nick cowered, shrinking backwards and standing partially behind Felix.

 

“Making jokes about a woman make you feel big, huh?” She released Maura’s hand in order to gesture with both of hers, wiggling her fingers in the air in front of her face. “Ooh, the scary woman with a gun might blow your balls off…” She teased with a wry smile before turning serious again a split second later, “Grow up! If you think any officer of the law takes pulling out their weapon lightly you need a serious reality check. I wouldn’t waste a bullet on either of your sorry asses.”

 

Felix was affronted and took a step forward, “Now, listen, this is no way to behave in public -”

 

Jane stood almost nose-to-nose with the professor, “No, _you_ listen. You lost the right to talk about public decency the second you started talking shit about my girl in a bathroom with paper-thin walls.”

 

Felix’s face said everything. His eyebrows rose as the penny dropped, “Oh…”

 

Jane quirked her head to the side, pleased that he was smart enough to follow along, “Yeah, oh.” She let that sink in for a moment; let him squirm as he frantically tried to recall everything they might have heard and whether or not he had any chance of resuscitating his date. “Now, Maura won’t tell someone they’re a douchebag because she’s impossibly polite. She’d probably even sit through the rest of dinner feeling uncomfortable because she’s a saint. I, thankfully, don’t suffer from that particular affliction, so take this as your only warning,” She leaned in further, breathing on his face. “You contact her in anything other than a professional capacity from here on out, you talk to her in anything other than a perfectly polite and respectful manner and I _will_ personally haul your ass straight over to Fraud and have them check every transaction that ever went through your foundation. Understood?”

 

Felix nodded meekly - his focus pinned on the ground. He was caught and he knew it.

 

Nick wanted the floor to open up and swallow him. He was rubbing furiously at the back of his neck, sure that he was in Jane’s sights and next to receive a tongue-lashing. The wait was torture.

 

When Jane did turn her attention back to the baker she was quietly fuming.

 

Maura reached for the detective’s hand once again and murmured, “Jane.” It was a request. One word that only the brunette could hear said numerous things. _You’ve done enough. It’s all right. Go easy on him._

 

“Nick… uh -” The brunette breathed in deeply and let it out slowly, trying to calm her heart rate. “You really tried, you did. I’m sure you’re a nice guy on the inside. But you’re not the guy for me and I’m certainly not the girl for you.” She waved a dismissive hand in the space between them before latching an arm around Maura’s waist. “You need to grow a pair and… like, I dunno, marry Betty Crocker or something.”

 

Nick’s nervousness came out as a trembling snicker, “Hehe, Betty Crocker, good one.” But his relief at avoiding Jane’s verbal firing squad was obvious as he fished a handkerchief from his trouser pocket and dabbed at his clammy brow.

 

Standing up tall and being as ladylike as she could manage Jane smiled sweetly, “Now, if you’ll excuse us, my friend and I are going to take our leave. You’ll be fine picking up the cheques, won’t you, gentlemen?” It wasn’t really a question; her inflection made it very clear that they should not even think of asking the two women to go dutch.

 

The detective leaned down to whisper in Maura’s ear, “I… er, I gotta go grab my coat.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the vague vicinity of her table. Her expression was soft and apologetic. Suddenly she was filled with regret; had she overstepped? Would Maura be pissed at how she handled things? Did Maura even want to leave her date? She acted without much forethought and now she panicked.

 

But Maura smiled sweetly, her eyes twinkling, and whispered in return before walking away. “I’ll meet you at the door.”

 

When Jane turned back around Nick had vanished, clearly the man was smart enough to take his leave when the opportunity had arisen. But Felix stood unmoving, his arms crossed over his chest.

 

He was a good-looking guy. She wasn’t too proud to admit it; she could see exactly the traits that would attract a beautiful and successful woman like her best friend. She wasn’t sorry they’d discovered his true nature in this odd and unconventional manner, not that there was ever anything conventional about finding out that a guy was a total creep. It was much better to find out now rather than later when… he could have, _gah_ , she didn’t want to even think about the possibilities.

 

Felix scoffed, “Why am I not surprised she’s going to go with you? I knew there was something wrong with her.”

 

Jane had to practically bite her fist to stop her flinging it into the professor’s chiselled fucking face.

 

The feeling that he simply wasn’t worth an assault charge made her laugh and he screwed his face up in confusion.

 

“Here’s the thing, Mr. Boob… there is nothing wrong with her. _Nothing_. She’s perfect. It’s you who’s the jerk. Now I’m gonna take her home ‘cos she’s done wasting her time on you and I’m done talking to you.”

 

Jane turned around to find Maura standing behind her holding her coat. “Nick asked me to give this to you.”

 

Jane sheepishly swiped at her nose wondering how much Maura had heard. “Thanks. You ready to go?”

 

Maura nodded, “Mm-hm.”

 

Felix reached out to touch Maura’s wrist as Jane donned her coat, “Wait, Maura, I’m sorry. Let’s -”

 

“No,” she snapped, taking up Jane’s hand once more and giving her a shy wink. She turned back to him as she pulled on the brunette’s hand and started to move towards the exit, “Let’s not. Like she said, we’re done. Come on, Jane.”

 

When they reached the sidewalk out in front of the restaurant it was still pouring with rain. Jane shuddered and flicked up her coat collar as Maura stopped and covered the pair with her umbrella.

 

“Now what?” Maura enquired.

 

Evidently she wasn’t upset about Jane’s interference but now the pressure was on for the detective to prove that being with her best friend was infinitely better than eating crummy food with a two-faced tool.

 

Jane turned to Maura. They were standing close together, sheltering under the one-person umbrella. “Do you want me to take you home?”

 

“Yes,” Maura replied without missing a beat. Then after a pause, she added, “Eventually.”

 

Jane beamed. “Okay, let’s go.” She held Maura’s hand and turned to walk down the street towards the parking lot where she’d left her Crown Vic.

 

Maura trotted along, trying to keep up with Jane’s longer stride, “Where are we going?”

 

“To get dessert.”


	5. Chapter 5

Maura sighed. “You’re dripping all over my floor.”

 

Jane looked down past the sodden hem of her coat and inspected legs that were splattered all the way to the knee. Goosebumps rose over her skin and she shivered from the moisture and penetrating cold.

She shrugged, shaking even more droplets from her shoulders, causing Maura’s impatient frown to deepen. “It’ll dry soon enough.”

 

Maura went about stowing her coat and umbrella as the detective moved further into the house and placed a cardboard container onto the kitchen island. “You’ll forget all about your wet hardwood once your mouth is full of Italian cream.”

 

Jane smirked, letting the unintended but quite satisfactory innuendo settle in her best friend’s mind.

 

Maura quirked an eyebrow as she deliberated whether or not to bite at Jane’s bait. The blonde could practically hear Jane’s unvoiced snicker but the silent pause that lingered between them felt too long now for a witty comeback. Jane could tease her about that - _Gee, Maur’, took you long enough_ – just like she’d tease her for responding with something that wasn’t funny. She’d think on it some more and come back to it later if she was still feeling playful.

 

The doctor moved to retrieve a couple of small plates from a cabinet as Jane removed her saturated overcoat with a grimace and a hiss. “You know where the bath towels are if you want to dry off a little.”

 

The brunette was pinching at the material of her dress with a thumb and forefinger, dragging the clingy, damp fabric away from chilled skin before letting it snap back into place. “I think I might.” She shivered again. “In fact, I bet I have some spare clothes in your guest room. I’ll just go and change real quick.”

 

Maura turned to tell her friend she could take a hot shower if she needed to but the older woman had already scampered off down the hall leaving a trail of wet foot prints behind her.

 

oOo

 

It wasn’t long before Jane returned, still barefoot but looking much drier and dressed in her pressed work trousers and a button-down shirt. Still actively scrunching her dark, curly hair with a small towel she regarded Maura’s questioning stare with a smile and pre-empted her enquiry, “Only things I had here but at least I’m comfortable now. I feel like me again.”

 

Maura’s smile widened imperceptibly at the mental image of Jane adding her high heels to that ensemble. Anything was better than those ugly man boots she wore at work. Heels would undoubtedly take the tomboyish edge off and lengthen already ridiculously long legs. She blinked and shook her head a little, as if shaking the image from her mind, refocusing on the real life version of her little daydream.

 

Jane sat at the kitchen island and began to stuff one end of a huge cannoli into her mouth. “Mmm mmm,” she mumbled. “It was _so_ worth getting soaked for these.”

 

Maura took up the stool next to her and tried not to laugh as Jane blew out her cheeks and crossed her eyes in exaggerated pleasure. “You wouldn’t have gotten soaked if you’d have let me go with you or just taken my umbrella.”

 

Jane rolled her eyes and swallowed audibly as Maura stated the obvious. “ _Yes_ , but then we’d still be stood in line _now_ and we’d _both_ be wet!”

 

Maura smiled as Jane filled her mouth once again. There really was no arguing with Jane when she thought her plan was best. “It was very chivalrous of you to let me wait in the car. You’re the only person I know who would use their badge to make dessert arrive sooner!”

 

Jane snorted and her hand flying to her mouth to catch any crumbs or cream that might be sprayed across the countertop. That was a genius move on her part she had to admit. The brunette never (hardly ever) misused her authority in that way – okay, there was that one time she and Maura needed access to the art gallery - but there had been fifteen people standing between her and a glass display case full of the city’s most indulgent Italian delicacies and she thought she might actually drown if she had to spend one more second outside in the rain this week. There had to be some perks to being an officer of the law, right?

 

So it was with very little shame that the detective had told Maura to stay put, run all the way to the late night café sans umbrella – _‘here, take this’ ‘no,_ _it’ll just slow me down, Maur’_ – and skipped to the front of the queue, badge in hand. _“I need four cannolis and I need them fast. I have a medical doctor in my squad car and it’s an emergency!”_

 

Jane chuckled and swallowed again with a soft moan. “I told them it was an emergency. I didn’t say what kind.”

 

Maura nodded with another smirk. She really did appreciate Jane’s efforts to get them both home as soon as possible.

 

The rain had only gotten worse as the evening had progressed and as roads had quickly turned to streams and the steady thrum of raindrops had turned to booming thunder Jane had suggested picking up dessert and heading back to the comfort and solitude of Maura’s house.

 

Maura watched Jane consume her cannoli with gusto. She was perfectly content. In this place, or any place for that matter, she was so at ease with her friend; her stubborn, loyal, protective, wonderful best friend. The warm feeling she always felt in Jane’s presence bloomed and spread within her. There was more to her feelings, suddenly more of… something, but she couldn’t place it. She felt regret and disappointment, like this was how a happy life was supposed to be but she’d been too preoccupied with sexual attraction and natural chemistry to see it. Did married people feel this comfortable all the time? Could finding someone like Jane be the key to ridding her of darker thoughts and the loneliness that weighed down her weary heart?

 

The sound of a plate sliding across the counter’s surface interrupted Maura’s musings.

 

Jane dragged Maura’s dessert closer to her friend’s chest with her free hand and motioned for the blonde to eat up.

 

Blowing a cloud of icing sugar across the kitchen the detective blurted messily, “Come on, Maur'. I swear if you don’t eat them, I will.”

 

Maura chuckled, turning her plate to inspect her treat, trying to work out the best way to pick it up so as not to spoil her outfit or smear cannoli cream on her face. “Anyone would think you hadn’t already had dinner.”

 

Jane stopped chewing instantly and turned to observe her friend, the memory of her indeterminable dinner plate still fresh and still grievously unappetizing. Her stomach roiled quietly as she grinned and then nodded. Recalling the disgusting meal wasn’t enough to stop her grabbing the box to retrieve another cannoli. “You’re funny, you know that.”

 

Maura hummed with delight. She hadn’t eaten much at dinner either given how truly awful it had been. She brought the cannoli to her lips and took a decent bite. “Mmmmm, that is good.”

 

Jane was already munching again whilst simultaneously trying to lick cream from her fingers. “Told ya.”

 

oOo

 

With the plates rinsed in the sink and the countertop wiped down at Maura’s insistence the two women settled on the couch with a drink in hand. They chatted about the current case for a while until Maura found herself feeling anxious. With every aspect of the case they revisited and verbally re-evaluated she kept expecting the detective to up and leave, to be as eager as she was earlier to get back to the precinct and carry on working, but it never happened. It was unsettling and unnecessary.

 

Maura had been quiet for several moments trying to pull herself together when Jane broke the silence.

 

“Tonight should never have happened.”

 

Maura’s brow was scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean?”

 

Jane sighed and shifted her body towards Maura, bringing one bent knee up onto the couch and trailing her other foot across the floor in front of the couch. “You should have listened to me about Professor Nipples. I warned you about him two weeks ago.”

 

“What you told me, Jane, sounded very much like gossip or hear say.”

 

“What I told you, _Maura_ , is he is good friends with Dr. Pike.” Jane put her wine glass down on the glass coffee table with an audible clink. “Your passive-aggressive pal Dr. Boobs is golf-playing, whisky drinking…” Jane paused to wave her arm around whilst searching for suitable emphasis, “…back-slapping, cigar-smoking buddies with Dr.Pike! Hear say or not...” Jane was nodding now, her I-told-you-so face at full beam, “…you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps.”

 

Maura sighed heavily. She couldn’t look Jane in the eye but she couldn’t refute Jane’s claim either. She’d fought with her gut on this point, and won, before accepting Felix’s invitation. Jane’s warning had been duly noted but ultimately ignored. Maura wanted to be her own judge of character. It had been foolish and she saw that now.

 

Jane’s stomach roiled again when Maura didn’t speak, her eyes growing moist and shiny. “Wait,” she soothed, placing a hand on Maura’s knee. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant –“

 

Maura looked up to meet Jane’s gaze but the brunette’s attention was elsewhere even as her thumb started to rub at the blonde’s bare knee.

 

“We could have had a nice evening, the two of us, without them.”

 

Maura wasn’t following again. Had Jane planned to spend this evening with her all along?

 

Jane’s voice was calm and quiet as she went about processing her thoughts out loud. “I just can’t help thinking I would have had a great time, even if everything else had been the same - the annoying waitress, the god awful food, the damn rain…”

 

“I’m not –“ Maura stuttered, shaking her head briefly. “I’m not with you.”

 

Jane chuckled, that was precisely the problem. “That’s just it, Maura. If it had been you at my table, nothing else would have mattered.”

 

Maura was suddenly smiling wider than her face could accommodate. It physically hurt her cheeks she was grinning so hard. She tried to temper her reaction and not seem so overwhelmed by pressing a hand to her mouth and closing her eyes for a beat.

 

When she finally spoke her voice was almost a whisper and the sparkling smile Jane had been reciprocating fell away. “It wouldn’t have been the same though.”

 

Jane was picking invisible lint from her own trouser leg as she scoffed, “No, I might have actually enjoyed some of it.”

 

Maura stilled Jane’s restless hand with her own, interlinking slim, pale fingers with long, olive tanned ones. “No, I meant…” Maura swallowed a tiny lump that had formed in her throat without permission, “If it had been me, we wouldn’t have been at that restaurant in the first place. I’d have taken you to this immaculate little bistro I know where the food is exquisite, no matter what you order, where the service is exceptional, and where the ambience lends itself, almost adaptively, to whatever mood you and your companion wish to create.”

 

The way Maura spoke had left Jane a little speechless. She tilted her head and chewed on her lower lip.

 

“I just meant we’d have a good time, be comfortable y’know, and… just talk. No pressure to be anything we’re not. Like here,” Jane removed her fingers from Maura’s and gestured towards the kitchen. “Just us. No false airs and graces, eating cannoli straight out of the box.”

 

Maura smiled brightly but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. There was that feeling of disappointment rising again. How had she managed to miscommunicate her feelings so badly? She was terrible at this. She knew what she’d wanted to say. _I would treat you, Jane. I would take you somewhere we both feel comfortable, where the staff are nice to you, where you can choose your own dinner and know it’ll be delicious. It would be fun, it would be private, we could just be ourselves, be equals. It could be…_ dare she say, _intimate. We could talk and laugh and it would be just as perfect as this moment… but more._

 

“What?”

 

Maura blinked, “Hmm?”

 

Jane’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, “You're staring at me.”

 

“No, I –“

 

Looking down to inspect her shirt Jane huffed, “I spilled something, didn't I? I knew it. Tell me where it is and I'll go get cleaned up.”

Maura was too enthralled by the sight of Jane’s collar. How had it taken so long to notice just how well Jane wore a button-down shirt? How her long, strong neck met the folded tailoring, how the few open buttons showed just a hint of luscious skin, teasing… If she looked hard enough, and squinted just a fraction, Maura could see the resemblance now. It was why Felix’s physical attributes had seemed so perplexingly familiar.

 

Jane had been too busy rambling and fussing about her person to notice Maura scooting towards her on the couch. When she looked up again it was to find Maura's face much, much closer than it was a moment ago. The realisation stopped her foodstuff search instantly. The detective's eyebrows drew together as she continued to try to determine what it was exactly that had drawn the blonde's attention so completely. Her eyes flickered up, down, left and right; her gaze never meeting the doctor’s eyes directly. The look on Maura's face was, for once, truly indiscernible. That she could not immediately fathom her friend’s preoccupation served only to befuddle the brunette further. 

 

“Maura?”

 

“Freckle.”

 

“What?”

 

“You... You have –“

 

Jane shook her head a couple of times. It didn’t help to rid her mind of the confusion that was smothering her rational thinking abilities. _What is she talking about?_

 

She raised a curious eyebrow, “Did you sneak an extra large glass of wine when I went to the bathroom earlier?” She laughed easily, disguising her confusion with a lightly teasing joke. 

 

Maura scooted a tiny bit closer and Jane instinctively sat up a little bit straighter. She didn't flinch or retreat as Maura lifted a finger towards her face.

 

“Just there,” the blonde rasped softly, reverently stroking the tip of her right index finger across Jane's left cheek. Gently, “you have a freckle...”

 

“Oh,” Jane sighed, partly relieved. “At least it's not cream,” she laughed, breaking the tension with a little self deprecation. “It makes a change.”

 

Maura didn’t retreat as Jane spoke, just switched the pad of her finger for her thumb, tracing the same path across the freckle and back, over and over.

 

“Maura?” Jane grasped her wrist, breaking the spell and bringing gold-rimmed eyes back to deepest burnished coffee.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I said, you have them too y’know.“

 

Jane brought her own hand up to Maura's face, olive fingers brushing, trailing soft as a whisper down the plane of her nose, across her cheek and sweeping along her jaw down to her chin.

 

“You shouldn't cover them with makeup all the time.” Her words were gentle, not complimenting for reward or to falsely inflate her ego, just quietly matter-of-fact. She lowered her hand back to where the other rested in her lap. “They are beautiful.”

 

Jane's smile stole Maura's breath as several realizations hit the blonde all at once. She swiftly stood, smoothing her palms down her thighs, flattening the wrinkles from her dress, as she scrambled for a reason to leave the room, “There's, um, more wine on the counter, Jane. If you wanted to…” She waved a hand haphazardly in the direction of their almost empty glasses still occupying the coffee table. “I'm just going to -” _Slip into something more comfortable_. She threw a thumb over her shoulder and continued to stutter. “Um, get changed.”

 

Jane remained seated. Her brain ran a thousand miles per hour as she pulled her other leg up onto the couch and wiped a hand over her face.  _What just happened?_


	6. Chapter 6

Maura disappeared to the bathroom and removed her makeup, it was step one of a nightly routine designed to be efficient and avoid any chance of soiling her expensive outfits with cosmetics. Once complete, she stood in the middle of her bedroom, one hand on her hip, the other hanging loosely by her side and not really knowing what to do with herself. Her head had dropped low, her chin almost reaching to touch her chest, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

 

Shaking her head after a moment she raised open eyes to the ceiling and inhaled a deep breath.  _What was that?_  She breathed out, a tremulous, shaky breath through pursed lips that did nothing to calm the thundering inside her chest.

 

She had feelings, so many feelings. They were familiar and yet unsettling, commonplace yet unexpected. Her gut writhed with confusion.  _Work it out, genius, come on!_  The burn she had felt, _now_ felt, was the enticing twinkle in his eye, the glorious glow of his skin, his dark complexion, his freckle... that lone freckle had drawn her in with an almost gravitational pull, it was a singularity, inexplicably begging for her touch... her touch...  _her_  freckle.

 

 _Oh._ It continued to burn, deep within her belly. _The twinkle in her eye, her skin, her smile._ Her friend. Her beautiful Jane.

 

Maura stopped pacing and lifted the hand that wasn't still firmly planted on a svelte hip to pinch the bridge of her nose. As it turned out it didn't take a genius to come to a satisfactory conclusion; the cause of her sudden onset of palpitations was clearly right in front of her and had been for approximately six years.

 

With both hands on her hips she peered down at her feet, still clad in towering heels that bit divots into the plush carpet of her bedroom, and decided to take a little extra time to think before returning downstairs. She stepped out of her shoes and bent down to pick them up before walking into her vast closet. She moved slowly to place them on the shelf in the exact same spot they had occupied only a few short hours earlier.

 

She took solace in being able to control the arrangement of her closet. In this moment it seemed significant, the comfort of tidy organisation, as she worried that other aspects of her life were about to become rather messy.

 

She took another minute to carefully remove her dress and hang it on a rail, before donning some casual slacks and a sweater. Suddenly the thought of wearing her usual silk pyjamas felt inappropriate and stirred another bout of butterflies in her belly. It was ridiculous. She felt ridiculous. Jane was bound to notice her odd behaviour.  _She notices everything_. 

 

As Maura took a deep breath and exited back into her bedroom, she resolved to face the situation with honesty; if Jane asked her directly she would answer in the same vein. By her very nature she could do no less. She owed her best friend nothing less.

 

That resolve was all well and good until she exited the closet and came face to face with Jane. The detective was standing in her doorway, leaning against the frame with a worried expression on her face. She was barefoot and backlit by the warm glow of the hallway lighting.  _Oh my._ _Gorgeous_.

 

“Was it something I said?”

 

“What?”

 

“Why you disappeared back there; did I –“

 

“No, no! Nothing...” The doctor shook her head firmly, “You didn't... It's... Really. I -”

 

“But there _is_ something?” Jane prodded.

 

Smiling warmly and waving a dismissive hand, Maura replied, “Really, Jane. It's nothing.”

 

Jane took a several long strides into the room and opened her arms wide, inviting Maura in for a hug she knew the other woman had no good reason to avoid.

 

Jane squeezed Maura a little tighter than usual and spoke muffled words into her long hair, “I'm sorry.”

 

“What. Why?”

 

“For whatever I did to upset you; my whining about dates, complaining about foreign food, banging on about your poor taste in men… I shouldn't have said anything, it's none of my business. I mean it is kind of my business but you're a grown woman and I'm just a grumpy child sometimes. So, I'm sorry, Maura.”

 

“No, no. Please don't...” Maura's voice cracked and she couldn’t finish the sentence. She had no hope of Jane not noticing.

 

Jane pulled back and held her friend at arm’s length by the shoulders. “Hey!” she drawled softly, wondering what on earth was the matter.

 

“I'm ok, really, I'm just feeling a little... mixed up all of a sudden. It'll pass.” Maura shrugged off the taller woman’s hands and turned away before starting to remove her jewellery and laying it neatly out on the top of her dresser.

 

Jane cocked her head, still concerned, “Mixed up how?”

 

Maura gave another small shrug and a timid reply, “It's hard to explain and I'd rather -”

 

Folding her arms over her chest, Jane remained rooted to the spot just behind her friend. “Try me.”

 

Maura finished fiddling with the chain of her recently removed necklace and turned back to face the brunette. She waved a dismissive hand at the annoyingly astute detective and with an upbeat energy she didn’t really feel said, “Let's go back downstairs. I could use a drink –“

 

“Maura,” Jane gripped the blonde’s wrist gently and jerked her head in the direction of the bed. A full glass of wine perched on Maura’s bedside table, its twin resting on the other.

 

Maura sighed. There was no getting out of it now. She freed her wrist from Jane’s careful grasp and smoothly pressed their palms together. Holding Jane’s hand she moved to sit on the end of the bed, pulling the brunette along to sit next to her.

 

After settling herself and wiping shaky hands over her face, Maura breathed another huge sigh and began admitting her unsettling thoughts. “Just - okay. It didn't work out with Felix tonight, that much was obvious, but I **_was_** attracted to him.” She had her hands out in front of her, placating, hoping Jane would hear her out.

 

Jane rolled her eyes, “Well, yeah, you agreed to date the tool –“

 

“No. I mean, yes, I agreed to the date but that's not it. I was **_so_** drawn to him... Physically, I mean more than anyone I've met in the last few years, and I almost couldn't stop myself.” The confession coloured her cheeks with embarrassment, a tingling heat spreading across her skin in other places. “There were things about him that I couldn't put my finger on. He felt… safe, familiar. And that feeling was a turn on, or it was until...” Maura didn’t continue as Jane vaguely nodded. The rest didn’t need to be spelled out or dwelled on again.

 

Jane dipped her head and searched out Maura’s gaze. Meeting her eyes, she wanted the blonde to see as well as hear every ounce of conviction. “You don't need to feel a connection with a jerk like that, Maura.”

 

Maura smiled gratefully, “I know.”

 

After a few beats of silence Jane’s eyebrows drew close with curiosity, “So, who...?”

 

Maura looked up into her friend’s warm eyes again, “Hmm?”

 

“You said he seemed familiar,” she prompted.

 

Maura waved a hand in front of her own face, her palm outward, deflecting that which was seemingly innocent questioning to her friend but in reality a minefield of confused feelings. She thought the amused smile she presented might be enough to end her friend’s line of questioning, “Oh, it's not important –“

 

Jane chuckled. “Honestly, Maura, it's easier if you just tell me things, saves me having to interrogate you!”

 

 _Oh dear._ “It's probably better that I don't –“

 

“Maura.”

 

Jane’s tone was unmistakable and Maura, though petrified, didn’t miss a beat, “ ** _You_**. I didn't realise it at the time, but... he reminded me of you.”

 

“Oh.” She paused. _Wait._ “And you...”

 

“Romantic transference!” Maura blurted as she quickly stood and stepped away, cutting off Jane’s mumbling. “I’m the patient and you’re the therapist.”

 

“Huh?” Jane was totally confused; she heard the words but her brain was still trying to process what had come before.

 

Maura had a hand on her hip again as she paced lightly to and fro. It was something she often did as her mind worked things out; likening it to her version of Jane’s gumshoe thing. “It’s pretty obvious now. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me sooner.”

 

 _What the hell?_ Jane still hadn’t had enough time to work anything out. “That’s all great, Maura, but can you please **_stop_** _._ ”

 

Jane’s sudden harshness was firm and effective. It wasn’t loud or aggressive, it was all that was needed to make Maura freeze and return her wayward attention to her confused companion.

 

The brunette wasn’t mad or upset. Her eyes were pleading, begging for Maura to slow down and give her something, anything, in layman’s terms so that this could go back to being a two-way conversation. “Just stop… and **_explain_** it to me?”

 

Maura regarded the brunette seriously for a long moment. She worried how the next words she spoke might be received. Neither extreme reaction, from bored apathy to frantic flight, was favourable.

 

Jane reached out and quickly squeezed her friend’s hand before releasing it. She quirked an eyebrow and smiled, “In words less than four syllables please.”

 

 _Just keep it simple. Stay calm._ Maura took a deep breath and planted her gaze on the carpet by Jane’s feet. “Sigmund Freud noted a process called ‘romantic transference’. It is the reason why so many patients fall in love with their therapist.” She gestured with her hands as she spoke, emphasising certain points and drawing Jane’s eyes to and fro. “What most people don’t realise is that it’s a deliberate method used by the therapist to recondition the mental and emotional state of the patient. For abuse survivors, for instance, it’s very useful. In the case of romantic love, often the transference is so seamless, so… easy, that it causes emotions to linger on an inappropriate person or for an extended time.”

 

Jane leaned back on the bed, resting on outstretched arms, her elbows locked, and peered downwards into her own lap. Her face was blank for a long moment, belying the whirring speed of her own grey matter. Thoughts and observations, old and new alike, made fitting connections, whilst solid facts clicked them all into place, filling the vacant spaces of her heart that were previously clouded merely with suspicion and wishful thinking.

 

When the detective next spoke her voice was so quiet Maura almost missed it. “And I’m the therapist?”

 

Maura chewed on her bottom lip and nodded.

 

Jane turned to look at Maura intently, her piercing gaze igniting a fuse that ran the full length of Maura's body. She couldn’t concentrate fully amidst the fire that was now raging throughout her lower abdomen. “It doesn't mean... It doesn't have to mean... anything.” She flailed. _Oh god, what was I thinking?_ “I think it’s natural that a disappointment of that magnitude, after such a build up, could result in a confusion of romantic and platonic feelings since my only available source of affection is the one person I can’t -”

 

Maura was rambling but Jane didn’t hear most of it.

 

“- And this is exactly why I didn’t want to… why I shouldn’t have said what I was thinking out loud because now you’re looking at me like that and I can’t –“

 

The detective had heard enough. “Perfectly natural?” she snapped.

 

Maura was trying not to sound too pitiful as her voice rose an octave in desperation, “Yes! Clinically speaking, it’s recognised and -”

 

“Inappropriate?”

 

Maura scrambled, shaking her head furiously, “No! That’s not -”

 

“And what about therapists that fall in love with their patient?”

 

Maura was still shaking her head, stunned by the sudden change of direction and missing the relevance, “Well, that’s… rare. Unheard of really. Quite… unusual.”

 

Jane stood quickly and took a step into Maura’s personal space. “Unusual?” she husked, her eyes searching Maura’s face.

 

A tiny gasp escaped Maura as she fought her body’s instinctive reaction to back away from the physical intrusion. Her every limb trembled with need. Her blood felt like lava, filling her organs and winding its way around her pelvis; it was sublime. Her skin prickled with every laboured breath she took and she felt it shiver again in sympathy every time Jane breathed near her. Ignoring the false sharpness of Jane’s tone, she thought she knew what she could see instead in Jane’s eyes, but she wanted to be sure. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing her friend over a misunderstood psychiatric diagnosis and a miscommunication. “What… what are you thinking?”

 

“I’m thinking… you -” The brunette took another small step forward, forcing Maura’s balance backward into the dresser, “…are quite -” Another small step and there remained no more space between them.

 

Maura’s breathing hitched as her fingers fumbled to find the edge of the dresser. She needed something to keep her from literally falling. Metaphorically speaking, it was already much too late.

 

Jane’s lips practically brushed Maura’s mouth as she spoke in the smokiest, sexiest voice Maura had ever heard, “… ** _unusual_**.”


	7. Chapter 7

The smirk that spread across Jane’s pink lips as she leaned back to an upright position seemed to drag Maura’s body magnetically up with her.

 

An instant later, the doctor’s eyebrows lifted and she scoffed, side-stepping the detective’s lanky frame. A balled fist thudded against her firm thigh as she spun around, “I’m happy to see after all this time it still amuses you to mock me.”

 

With her body still facing the dresser, Jane’s smirk vanished as she turned her head to regard the blonde, all the while breathing deeply through her nose.

 

Maura gestured with both hands, irritated. “It doesn’t matter what I say, does it? Ever. If I want to discuss emotions you don’t want to engage and if I talk about things only in scientific terms you poke fun at me.”

 

Jane tried to interject but the younger woman still appeared unreasonably affronted, “Maura, I wasn’t -”

 

“I knew this would happen. I asked you not to push but you just can’t turn the badge off, can you? Instead now everything’s strange between us and you think I’m weirder than I already was.”

 

Hands held in surrender, Jane’s body turned stiffly back toward the blonde. “Woah, hold up. Let’s backtrack just a little, huh. I did **_not_** call you weird… well, not today, but you **_have_** been acting a little off.” Counting each point on her fingers and staring firmly at the tight set of Maura’s jaw, Jane recapped, “Three times tonight you’ve zoned out on me. You stared at me funny in the restaurant bathroom earlier, I thought it was just to do with the dress but then you did it again when I came downstairs after getting changed, and just now on the couch you…” Three fingers became an entire hand, which she waved in a circle before pointing towards the door, “I don’t even know what that was.

 

Hazel eyes were fixed on the carpet as Maura strained to remain calm and rational. Still feeling tender, but now somewhat ashamed too, she forced out meekly, “I’m sorry.”

 

The doctor’s regret washed over Jane without effect. It wouldn’t do to accept her weak apology and allow Maura the means to run away from this. Instead the older woman swallowed, feeling a burn low in her belly that she hoped wasn’t her body’s way of telling her she ate a cannoli too many. “I mean… I think I know.”

 

Maura peered up to meet dark eyes that burned through her.

 

“I had a theory… coming up here… and I thought at one point you’d confirmed it for me, but you’ve done such a great job of talking around the point, of making it all sound so clinical and trivial and -” Jane pointed an accusing index finger at her friend. “I’m not the only one that avoids discussing emotions by the way…” and she saw Maura’s lips twitch up at the edges as she fought a smile herself. “… and now I’m gonna have to go out on a limb to clear all this up.”

 

Uncertainty washed over Maura like an ice cold shower, leaving prickled flesh and watery eyes in its wake. To apologise again might seem too desperate. What would Jane think of her if she begged to start over, to take back everything she had said? Would either of them ever forget the night and the ridiculous events that fought to turn their seamless friendship upside-down?

 

A heavy silence hung between them, the room permeated only by the sounds of rain still beating down on the windows, never-ending, until Jane moved and then Maura wanted to speak, to beg, to cry, to reach out and hold on. It was nothing more than a muffled squeak as she forced it down and softly cleared her throat for cover.

 

Jane wanted to close the distance between the two of them, but Maura’s reaction on the couch and again here in her bedroom were proof enough that the brunette would only force her friend further away. So she moved to leave, taking several long strides across the room before stopping and turning just inside the doorway. Here was the limb, a weakling of a bough that absolutely would not hold her weight. She was counting on Maura to catch her when she fell.

 

Pushing the door closed with a quiet snick, the detective was glad of the dim light afforded by only a single lit bedside lamp. She began speaking at the exact same time as she started to slowly unbutton her shirt from top to bottom.

 

“I hate the rain,” she said simply at the first button. “I hate every moment it pours down, but not for the reason you might think.” Another button and a deep breath followed. “I watched too much TV when I was young, too many old films. By the time I was old enough to put romance into practice I was idealistic and much too naïve.” _Thanks for that, Ma._

 

All of Jane’s cleavage was on display. _Good lord, there’s another freckle._ Maura looked on, riveted, confused, and aroused.

 

The third button revealed a swath of tanned skin across Jane’s midriff. “I thought everyone got chased through a storm by their true love.” She scoffed and snickered at her own little joke, “What good is being swept off your feet if you’re not dripping wet?!”

 

Almost as soon as the smile appeared it vanished again. If it were possible, Maura thought, Jane was even more beautiful when she was serious. Dark and brooding did wonders for her strong features, and of course the lighting didn’t hurt.

 

Button four uncovered Jane from neck to bellybutton and Maura couldn’t help the up-down sweep of her appreciative gaze.

 

“Lovers were always in the rain, y’know, or snuggled up under the covers listening to the sounds of it, the thunderstorms, it was perfect.”

 

Jane seemed wistful, Maura thought, as if she were replaying dreams long since abandoned, exorcising something from deep within, something never admitted to another living soul. It wouldn’t surprise the doctor given the detective’s cynical nature. This insight into her best friend, as provoked as it was unexpected, was like pure oxygen and Maura sucked it up with deep breaths. _Keep going, keep going_ played on a loop inside her head. She wanted to see and hear so much more.

 

Jane’s attention was fixed on her shirt, on the movement of her fingers, and her long, curly hair fluttered around the sides of her downturned face as she shook her head. “But life isn’t like the movies, so it’s not Prince Charming chasing you, it’s some… sick psychopath, and the rain isn’t romantic, it’s cold and it’s running down your neck, under your collar and you’re shivering and you just want someone to care enough to wrap you up in a warm, fluffy robe but you’re too proud or stubborn to ask and so it never comes…”

 

Maura was emotional; feeling a little vulnerable and a whole lot off-kilter. But the soul-baring that Jane was working through, some of it without stopping for breath and with eyes still turned down in what looked like embarrassment caused Maura to hiccup a little sob in sympathy. “Jane -”

 

This stopped Jane in her tracks and her eyes lifted from where her fingers still held the last and only button still fastened on her shirt, where the tails disappeared, still tucked beneath the waistband of her trousers.

 

Maintaining eye contact, she continued, “Then - **_surprise_** – you reach forty and you’re too cynical and jaded to realise the person you’re truly willing to run through the rain for isn’t the leading man your mother told you about every Sunday afternoon while she braided your hair…”

 

With the final button released and her shirt gaping freely, the brunette swiftly moved to free the button on her trousers. A quick movement of her wrist left the zipper partially lowered.

 

Maura’s breath was shallow and stilted as she took in the delicate black panties that matched the lacy bra showcasing the glorious dark tone of Jane’s skin. The fact that this particular ensemble was once hidden beneath that scandalous black dress wouldn’t have surprised the blonde in the least, but seeing it covered by such unassuming work attire did something to her pulse. And that was without words. But then there had been words, too, such beautiful words; words that inspired a glowing spiral of hope inside Maura.

 

Unwilling to make any assumptions, lest it make a fool of her – and, if she was honest, lest the additional disappointment destroy what was left of her fragile confidence if she was wrong - she had to be sure. “What are you – I mean, what -”

 

Jane took a single step forward and held out her left hand. “I guess I’m taking a leaf out of your book, Doctor. I’m testing my theory. For science.” The invitation was blatant and unmistakeable. Her sultry smile enough to set the bed sheets alight. _If you want me, come and get me._

 

oOo

 

“This isn’t funny, Jane.”

 

“I’m not trying to be funny.” She gestured with both hands at her partially dressed body. “You really think I’m teasing you?”

 

Maura twisted from side-to-side, one hand on her hip, the other pressing her palm to her scrunched forehead. “I – I don’t know. I’m not sure what to think. It’s all so… confusing.”

 

“If you think about it, it’s not that confusing. It makes more sense to me than your Freudian explanation, that’s for sure.”

 

“And what if I’m right? It’s entirely possible this is a passing feeling that will right itself.”

 

“You could be right, Maura. You usually are. But that only explains **_your_** feelings… it doesn’t explain mine.”

 

“Your - you have feelings for me?”

 

Jane nodded. “And you have feelings for me, too. It’s okay to say it. You don’t need to dissect it, or make apologies for it. I think it kinda crept up on us.”

 

Maura breathed a sigh of relief. Jane wasn’t going to freak out. She wasn’t going to lose her best friend, even if she was still trying to analyse everything to the nth degree.

 

“So, what do we do now?”

 

“Well,” said Jane, quickly removing her shirt and trousers without further preamble. “We can talk about it some more, if you want.” She slipped under the covers, propped up slightly by Maura’s fluffy pillows, the duvet covering everything up to her arm pits. “Or not.”

 

Removing her own dress and slipping into the bed beside the detective, Maura felt a strange sense of calm settle deep inside. They’d been here before, side-by-side, only on a handful of occasions and usually by accident after one of them fell asleep before moving to the guest bed, but never had they both only been in their underwear.

 

Jane turned onto her side to face Maura, propped up by an elbow, and the younger woman followed suit.

 

“How do we… do this?” At Jane’s raised, amused eyebrow Maura stumbled through trying to be more specific. “I don’t mean **_how_** , I mean -”

 

“I don’t think I can answer that, not in a way that will quiet all the questions I’m sure are still swirling around that enormous brain of yours.”

 

Maura giggled quietly. “Okay.”

 

“Let’s just carry on…” Jane shrugged, “… being us. The two of us together. No more bakers or nurses or yoga instructors, no more artists or soldiers or professors. I don’t need any of them.” _You don’t need any of them._

 

“I think I can do that, Detective.”

 

“Good, ‘cos I think... somewhere along the way... a while ago actually... I think I fell for you, Dr. Isles.”

 

Maura moved in for a tentative kiss on the lips but was stopped by Jane’s hand gently pushing against her chest.

 

“Wait -”

 

To say the doctor felt off her game was an understatement. How could she, once so perceptible and quick to read facial signals, think she’d be wrong in taking that next step?

 

Jane saw the blonde’s face drop and was quick to reassure with a soft palm cupping an even softer cheek, “Hey, no, just… first you have to promise me three things.”

 

Maura blinked and pursed her lips.

 

“One,” the brunette jerked a pointed index finger into the air. “… the first rule of girls’ night, which I **_know_** you have in private with my mother, is don’t talk about the cannolis. The existence of that late night cafe and its award-winning desserts is a secret. If she finds out I'm eating anything other than her homemade ones she'll never forgive me.”

 

Maura smirked and nodded.

 

“Two, I'm bound to get some grief from her about how I treated Nick tonight. It wouldn't surprise me if that fact reached her before sunrise; the speed at which gossip travels through Italian families is enough to make TMZ jealous. And when it does, I'm gonna need some backup…” She pointed a finger at Maura’s chest then at her own in turn, “… that means you... sticking up for me, at least a little bit. There'll be no tag-teaming me anymore about how I don't make an effort on dates and how it's my fault it didn't work out, blah, blah, blah.”

 

This caused Maura’s jaw to drop but she didn’t try to deny it.

 

“And C…” She grinned at Maura’s sharp inhale and still parted lips, an almost objection to her switching nomenclature that lasted only a second as the blonde quickly realised Jane’s deliberate attempt to get a reaction. “You promise me, right now, that the only face I ever need to see across the dinner table… is yours.”

 

Maura’s upper body lurched forwards, her wanting lips finding a home with those that had made demands, whispered moving declarations, and curled around arousing compliments in Italian. The two women didn’t part when breath was needed, still clinging, skin to pink, wet skin, and Maura breathed into Jane with pleasure, “I promise.”


	8. Chapter 8

It had started off slowly enough, with tentative and exploratory foreplay, all gentle touches and whispered questions, curious caresses and sweet kisses.

 

Having no previously conceived expectations, Maura had thought, would serve them well in removing any timidity or nervousness from the equation tonight. Ultimately, she was correct about the former and very wrong about the latter, though, surprisingly, it was she who had fallen prey to uncertainty and performance anxiety and not the detective. Logically, she knew this was normal, despite her age and experience – after all she had driven a car for years and still been nervous the first time she rode a motorcycle – but still she had been frustrated.

 

But then, Jane had paused to reassure the blonde that nothing between them was fragile enough to be shattered by this development if it didn’t go well; that theirs was a friendship already formed and moulded into something else, something more. This was just a final step; something they could do, as in all things, together. And they would be stronger for it.

 

oOo

 

_There was a hand in her underwear and she kept forgetting to breathe. Tremors ran through her limbs and her eyes were clenched so tightly shut she felt dizzy._

_She could feel it build and then leave; it was there and then it wasn’t, over and over. The more she concentrated the faster it fled._ No, no, no. Please.

_Jane’s fingers stilled and she brought her face close to Maura’s once more. “Look at me,” she whispered. “Hey, hey, come on…” Maura obeyed when she asked gently, “Open your eyes, honey.”_

_The detective’s dark eyes burned her skin and she couldn’t prevent the desperate, tremulous gasp that left her constricted chest._

_“It’s me… alright? It’s just me. I can stop if you -”_

_It was out of the question and Maura gripped Jane’s wrist preventing any retreat, “No!”_

_Jane smiled, rubbing the tip of her nose against the blonde’s, glad they both still wanted to go through with this, “Okay, then… just relax. Stop over-thinking it.”_

_Lips connected and quiet moans followed but the brunette’s fingers remained still, providing only light pressure at Maura’s clit._

_They breathed through parted lips, inhaling and exhaling each other between wet kisses. Their eyes locked and never wavered until Maura’s hips began to move against the anchor of Jane’s hand._

 

oOo

 

It hadn’t taken the doctor more than a minute or two from that point on to settle the nerves that had held her climax frustratingly at bay for more than ten long minutes. Bolstered by yet more heartfelt words, she surrendered to the brunette’s patient ardour. The tumbling butterflies were quickly smothered; her abdomen overtaken instead by contractions that shocked in their intensity and left her shaking long after.

 

Uncensored moans and whispered prayers of praise were released, far louder than she’d ever been with anyone else, while words of desire further encouraged and praised her once more. Jane couldn’t get enough of the noises she made and by her second, life-changing, freefalling rapture, with Jane’s fingers buried deep within her, she couldn’t have held them in if her life depended on it.

 

Heated dampness filled every crease of her skin and covered every plane of her body by the time Jane’s mouth and fingers caused an orgasm to explode within her for the third time. The bed sheets were in complete disarray. Under normal circumstances, she would have been eager to get them laundered but the feel of her own ejaculate clinging to her thighs and buttocks along with the damp patch she could feel beneath her legs was oddly satisfying. Her limbs were leaden and her muscles shivered, reinforcing her unwillingness to rise. She felt wanton and sexy beyond any previous sexual encounter and she revelled in it.

 

Rushing blood still thundered in her ears as her heart raced inside her chest. There had been a moment, perhaps more than one, where she thought she might be dreaming. It was startling and wondrous to realise, though her eyes may have been squeezed tightly shut, that she was in fact wide awake.

 

Simply put, along with her favourite pair of lace panties, Jane Rizzoli had just ripped everything Maura thought she knew about good sex to shreds.

 

oOo

 

Maura lay panting heavily, audibly fatigued, her once immaculate hair a mess of tangles upon her downy pillow. With her generous breasts exposed, she felt the sharp dig of her bra clasp where it bit into her ribs, the article twisted askew and covering absolutely nothing, but still securely fastened around her midriff. She hadn’t the energy or the inclination to remove it.

 

Her lower half was bare and she gently gripped the top edge of the duvet where it rose to meet her navel, providing some semblance of modesty though she couldn’t ascertain why she needed it now.

 

A quick wriggle of her foot confirmed the location of her panties, or what was left of them, beneath the covers at the end of the bed.

 

Jane panted just as loudly where she lay on her back at Maura’s side, but it was quite clear she would recover, yet again, much faster than the blonde. She looked a little smug as it occurred to her to tease Maura later about the aerobic benefits of sparring sessions or trips to the gym over sunrise yoga.

 

With the help of an elbow and a twist of her hips, the Italian dragged her body further up towards the headboard. She scooped a discarded pillow off the floor with her left hand and stuffed it unceremoniously behind her, a great whoosh of air being released as her head fell back heavily. She covered up to her chest with the duvet, overheated legs kicking out to the side and over, before clearing unruly, damp locks from her face.

 

Jane looked out into the dimly lit room and sighed, the last remnants of her exertion released in a puff of satisfaction. “So, Dr. Isles, what would Freud say about **_that_**?”

 

Maura inhaled deliberately slowly. “I don’t know but I think Dr. Horney would be _very_ proud of us.”

 

Jane slapped her arms down by her sides on top of the duvet and lifted her head as her eyebrows reached her hairline. “Dr. _**Horny**_?! Now I **_know_** you just made that up.”

 

Maura chuckled lightly. “Karen Horney of the Berlin Institute; she challenged Freud’s beliefs on the development of female sexuality. He thought that clitoral orgasms were an adolescent phenomenon and that after puberty women should only experience vaginal orgasms.”

 

Jane scoffed quietly. “Hardly seems fair.”

 

“Well, of course not. At the very least it would encourage feelings of inadequacy in women unable to orgasm from vaginal intercourse and studies show that could equate to as much as forty-five percent of the adult female population.”

 

Jane nodded solemnly. “Wow.” _Those poor women._

 

“Indeed.”

 

Contentment was rolling off Jane in waves as she let out another loud sigh, “I feel great.”

 

Parched and with no desire to leave the softness of her bed, Maura propped herself up on an elbow and reached over to the bedside table. She greedily gulped the last of her wine and set the empty glass back down. Turning back to Jane, she paused, “I feel…”

 

Jane’s eyebrows drew together, apprehensive and worried. _Is she gonna kick me out? Did I just ruin everything?_ “What?”

 

But then Maura smiled, sweetly and with a shyness Jane had never seen before, and their eyes were pinned forcefully on nothing but each other.

 

“I don’t know… different somehow.” _Released, set free._

 

It didn’t matter that the blonde couldn’t verbalise it; the brunette could see it written all over her beautiful face anyway and she returned the sentiment with a beaming grin of her own.

 

Deliberately lowering her voice, Jane tucked her arms below the duvet and proceeded to encroach onto Maura’s side of the bed, drawing their bodies close together again. “Well, give Dr. Horny my sincerest thanks next time you see her and let her know –“

 

Maura leaned back against the headboard as the detective crawled over her on hands and knees.

 

“I intend to continue disproving Freud’s crazy ideas at every… possible… opportunity.” It was the little wink she added that caused Maura to smirk.

 

Jane’s mouth was only a hair’s breadth away when Maura deadpanned, “She died, Jane… in 1952.”

 

Sitting back on her heels, thighs spread where they straddled the blonde’s pale legs, Jane let the duvet fall behind her revealing the full measure of her own nakedness as well as Maura’s. “Whatever. I think **_my_** data is conclusive; I’m three for three.” She leaned in to punctuate her challenge with kisses. “ ** _You_** are definitely not one of the forty-five percent… but I believe **_your_** research… needs more attention.”

 

Maura sat up and reached her hands around to grip Jane by the ass. Their hips slid together and the blonde relished the feel of their breasts pressing together. She held the brunette’s body to her tightly, squeezing possessively, her palms splayed over Jane’s upper and lower back. Tilting her chin upward she met the detective’s heavily-lidded gaze and her breath caught. Her voice barely a whisper, her heart fractured in her chest at the onslaught of emotion she could barely keep contained, “When I climaxed, you came, too, every time. How did you do that?”

 

Their lips were practically touching as Jane’s quirked into a tiny smile. Her arms were slung over Maura’s shoulders and she was enjoying how tightly she was clutched to the blonde’s soft body. “How could I not? The feel of you… outside… inside, the sound of you, how I feel about you… I touched myself too, only the last time, the first two times was all you, but even then it was better because of you.”

 

Maura swallowed and nodded slowly, relaxing her hold and reaching a hand up to brush the backs of her fingers down Jane’s face. _God, how I love that freckle._

 

Their foreheads met gently and Jane began to stroke a hand up Maura’s back, continuing under her hair, to caress the nape of her neck. Resisting a shiver, Maura sighed lightly and breathed softly again into Jane’s neighboring mouth. “This was so… unexpected. How did I not see this, see you, before?” Her fingers stroked Jane’s sternum, the space between her breasts spattered with another handful of dark freckles.

 

“I didn’t see this coming either, not until tonight. Until I heard that jerk in the bathroom and it kinda hit me in the chest.”

 

“You weren’t what I was planning for when I climbed into that taxi tonight.”

 

“I know. And you freaked out on me.”

 

“I freaked out, but… I don’t feel that way now. I’m calm and everything makes sense. It’s like you flipped a switch or something.“

 

Jane arched an eyebrow and within a second Maura was pinching the skin of her hip sharply. “Ow!”

 

“I’m serious, despite the fact I know it took all your willpower not to make a joke about ‘pressing my button’ just now -”

 

“Pushing your –“ Jane cleared her throat quietly. “Never mind. I know what you mean. I never thought to gatecrash any of your dates before, maybe if I had we’d have been doing this much sooner.”

 

Maura kissed her lips lovingly, reached her right hand between Jane’s spread thighs and ran her fingers through wet folds, “This?”

 

Gripping Maura’s shoulders, Jane gasped, “Yes.” She ground her hips into Maura, the other woman pressing fingers further into her sex and Jane shuddered. Grasping the doctor either side of her face, they kissed passionately with dancing tongues and shared moans.

 

Breaking apart, Maura moved her free hand down to Jane’s ass once more and encouraged the brunette’s rocking motions with a push-pull of her arm.

 

“It never… felt like this… before,” Jane stuttered, feeling her clitoris and labia swell with her arousal. As Maura’s fingers finally disappeared all the way into the slick depths of her opening a rush of breath escaped her lungs and she groaned.

 

“You feel it?” Jane nodded. The detective had closed her eyes and let her head fall back so Maura pressed her mouth to the older woman’s throat, her lips rubbing over damp skin with every sultry word. “This is what you did to me. What no one has done to me before. This is how it felt to have you moving deep inside of me.”

 

“Ohhh… God.“

 

Jane was trying to lean back slightly, to push harder onto Maura’s fingers as they stroked and pressed inside her tight vagina, and so Maura removed the hand that had been gripping the firm globe of the brunette’s ass and lifted her knees. Giving her lover something to lean against, she moved her free hand to caress and squeeze a soft, luscious breast.

 

Jane gasped again at the feel of Maura’s fingers, her dark nipple tight and hard and begging to be pinched. “Ugh, God.” It shot electric jolts down her body, between her legs, sharply painful and delightfully exquisite. _God, I need more of her._

 

Jane moaned with every push and curl of the doctor’s fingers, her hips gyrating and her abdominal muscles screaming in pleasure. For long minutes she felt it build up, her moans getting closer together, volume and pitch increasing, her hips moving faster and harder, wanting to take all of Maura inside her and never let go.

 

Her right hand reached backward towards the bed, extended fingers supporting some of her weight as the left palmed the breast Maura had yet to lavish attention on.

 

Maura leaned forward and surrounded Jane’s right nipple with her warm, wet mouth, circling her tongue over and over, sucking, and nibbling with her teeth before repeating all over again.

 

This, coupled with the repeated, firm pressure to her upper, inner wall quickly drove Jane higher than she’d ever been before. The strength of building pressure between her legs and the burning coil in her abdomen was new and unusual.

 

When release finally came and Jane’s vaginal muscles spasmed, Maura removed her fingers and frantically rubbed the hard, bundle of nerves at the top of Jane’s cleft. She whispered reverently as her own clit twitched in empathy, in awe of Jane, her beauty and her pleasure, “That’s my girl. Let it go. That’s it. Come for me.”

 

Jane’s upper body shot forward and she cried to the Lord repeatedly as contractions she couldn’t stop forced liquid to squirt out onto and run down Maura’s abdomen. They’d never been this strong before, “Ugh… ugh… ugh… oh…. god.” She held onto Maura for dear life, clutching the blonde’s head to her breast as the doctor’s fingers spread wetness all over her folds and clit and steadily began to slow. “Oh my god, Maura,” she panted. “You… oh my god.”

 

Maura’s arms were wrapped around Jane once again, stroking her back when their foreheads met once again. “You’re amazing, Jane,” she breathed.

 

Jane chuckled as Maura kissed her cheeks, her forehead and the tip of her nose before claiming her lips. After returning the affection with a deep, slow, toe-curling kiss of her own, she husked, “I was just about to say the same thing about you.”

 

She pressed her body forward, forcing Maura to lie back down. Lifting one leg she pressed her knee between Maura’s thighs, parting the younger woman before settling fully in between.

Leaning on an elbow, Jane ran her hand over Maura’s belly, appreciating the heat and slickness she had left there. The doctor murmured as she watched the detective slip a finger into her mouth and suck. That was enough for Jane to know she couldn’t ignore the urge.

 

Lowering her body down the bed, she immediately pushed her face into Maura’s stomach. She kissed and licked the wetness from her skin, mouth trailing from navel to bikini line, her deep voice muffled but no less arousing, “So fucking sexy.”

 

Maura’s hips writhed and she grabbed handfuls of dark hair, but she didn’t have to direct Jane’s mouth to where it was needed; it was already there. Arching her back she welcomed Jane’s tongue and the pumping surge of her hips began. She could feel it coming fast, it burned so deliciously she never wanted it to end and yet she didn’t want to wait a second more. “Aaaaaah… God, Jane. So good. Don’t stop, baby.”

 

The sweet little pet name did nothing but spur on the detective. She gripped Maura around the thighs and pulled her even harder into her mouth.

 

Several more short, firm strokes just below her clit were enough to spin Maura’s world in the opposite direction. Her pants of “Oh, Jane. I’m gonna… I’m… you’re gonna make me…” were replaced with screams of “Oh, ohh, ohhh,” as her sex convulsed and throbbed and her blood pounded through her pussy.

 

Jane was grinning like a cat that just licked clean a bowl of double fucking cream as Maura pressed her hands over eyes and continued to pant like she’d run the Boston marathon. A sense of satisfaction she couldn’t beat and rightness she couldn’t explain spread through her again. She witnessed an errant twitch here and there run through Maura’s body, making her muscles jerk and her breasts jiggle as she groaned quietly in pleasure.

 

As the impulses lessened and the older woman began to move, Maura reached her arms out and was rewarded with a body settling completely atop her. “Come here,” she whispered, pulling them firmly together. She inhaled sharply as their sexes touched, her sensitive clit stimulated once more. She couldn’t help push up her hips but it was too much all the same. “Stay… just stay,” she breathed in Jane’s ear, strong hands holding her hips in place.

 

The brunette nodded her understanding; as amazing as it felt to have their most intimate parts touching, all wet and warm and arousing beyond belief, it was enough for now just to be held. For now.

 

oOo

 

Wagging a long, tan index finger at Maura’s coffee cup and then motioning towards the front door, Jane was getting impatient, “You promised we could go work on this case today and I was a good little detective and didn’t harass your staff last night or this morning, so **_come_** … **_on_**.”

 

Maura didn’t budge from her spot behind the island, “Just because you fill your stomach at an unhealthy rate doesn’t mean I have to. It’s no wonder you have a glove box full of medication for gastroesophageal discomfort.”

 

“It’s not all mine,” Jane smiled tightly, knowing Maura wouldn’t buy it. “Some of it belongs to Frost.”

 

Maura just arched an eyebrow and sipped some more from her cup.

 

Jane shucked on her suit jacket and appraised Maura’s cleavage in what was a very flattering dress. “I’m glad I don’t have that adermo-foo-foo disease.”

 

“Adermatoglyphia; genetic abnormality, not a disease,” Maura corrected as she gathered the brunette’s empty coffee cup and turned to place it in the sink.

 

Lowering her voice to a whisper and leaning her elbows on the island counter the detective confessed, “I’m happy knowing I left my prints all over you. No one can see ‘em, but _**I**_ know they’re there.”

 

Maura cocked her head to the side; she was amused and aroused but couldn’t help the honesty or logic that followed as she turned back around. “Unlikely, since I already showered. Latent prints on skin are notoriously hard to recover since any kind of movement or touch can remove them.”

 

Standing up tall with car keys in hand, Jane pushed out her lower lip and whined, “You had to ruin it with science.”

 

“Yes,” she laughed, genuinely sorry. “But you’ll thank me. The next time a body is reported less than an hour after death you’ll remember this and it just might be crucial evidence that breaks your case.” She breathed slowly, Jane seemed very impressed at that and even preened a little at the thought, of course the doctor didn’t mention that she was always likely to arrive at the body first anyway and if anyone was going to suggest the possibility of prints on the body it would be her, not to mention Jane couldn’t and shouldn’t be the one to determine time of death…

 

She never could switch her scientist brain off. Gesturing with her now lukewarm coffee cup, “Of course any success depends on environmental conditions such as atmospheric humidity -“

 

“Let’s go, Catherine Willows!” Jane shouted with a fake smile, before grumbling under her breath. “You’re killing me.” The older woman turned and strode energetically towards the front door, “Speaking of humidity…” She flung the door open, releasing the handle with a dramatic flourish and letting the door bounce and reverberate on its hinges before swinging back almost to a close behind her.

 

The doctor was swiftly on the detective’s heels, grabbing her purse from the kitchen island, heels clicking against the parquet floor of the entryway. The door was only just ajar as she reached it but she could clearly hear Jane’s exclamation and it made her snort like a schoolgirl and explode with happiness.

 

“Fuck me sideways, it stopped raining!”


End file.
